A Glimmer of Hope
by Mokyn
Summary: Go out, defeat monsters and help save your town sounds easy, right? Not with the luck that this caravan has...


**A Glimmer of Hope**

First off, you should know that I own absolutely nothing of Final Fantasy. Some characters are in the actual game and others I made up myself.

Anyway, now that that useless little disclaimer is over, you are free to read my story. One more thing I should say is that I'm not a very good writer at this point so some paragraphs might be too long or too short. And commas always get me messed up so sorry if there are any mistakes.

* * *

**Journal Entry One: **Setting Out

'_The morning of my departure is here at last. I barely slept last night worrying that I wouldn't be able to complete the journey. I'm sure that the others felt the same way._

Hazel was writing in the journal she had received from Roland. The young Clavat was going on quest to find myrrh trees and cleanse her town's crystal, along with her friends, the people of Arithea.

At the moment Hazel was in her house's kitchen, holding the quill to her lips thinking of what to write next. It was awfully small for a first entry in the Crystal Chronicles and she wanted to do her job well. Just as soon as she set the pen to paper there came a knock at the door.

"Hazel, will you hurry up? Brother and Chase are waiting for you guys."

"Coming!"

The Clavat girl put the brown diary into her pack and glanced around her house, taking in every bit of it before she left. After closing the door she saw her family and her two friends looking at her. Belle Sa was a Selkie and had long, very beautiful silver hair tied close to the ends, giving it a unique look. Her clothing, or lack thereof, was mostly blue and white. Kristen was a Lilty and looked like most Lilties, with watery blue eyes and small, almost cuddly little bodies. Kristen had on some fine looking armor, with a visor above her eyes, making her look both cute and elegant.

Kristen giggled, "Well, it certainly took you long enough. Oh, don't tell me you'll be wearing that same dark brown coat you always wear."

Hazel had been casually stroking her short blonde-ish hair, but at that remark she looked infuriated.

"And what, pray tell, is wrong with my outfit? It's comfortable and that's the most important thing on this journey, not how I look."

Belle just moved her hand as if waving off the soon-to-be squabble.

"To each their own, I always say. I'll probably be wearing this exact same thing when I join you guys next year. Anyway, hurry up and say your good byes and meet us by the bridge."

And with that the Selkie and Lilty walked down the dirt street to meet up with everyone else. Hazel quickly bade her family farewell, promising her mother and father that she'd be careful and after chatting with her older brother, Samuel, saying that she'd come home as soon as possible to help take care of the calf. She hurriedly waved goodbye while running to make it to the bridge.

Only a few moments later she arrived, slightly out of breath and gave a hearty hello to the male Clavat and Selkie that were there with Belle and Kristen. The Clavat's name was Chase, an old member of Arithea's caravan with dark brown hair that sometimes got in his eyes, and who wore light colored clothing. The Selkie was actually Belle Sa's older brother Re Lii, who also wore light colored clothing and had a red bandana in his hair.

Chase was sitting in the driver's seat of the caravan and Re was loading supplies into the back.

"It's about time. We were thinking of leaving you," Re said jokingly. Hazel gave a sarcastic laugh and starting helping put supplies inside.

Chase climbed down from the wagon and offered to give the newcomers, Hazel and Kristen, a "tour".

"The caravan might not look very big, but it's got lots of space and will soon be known as your home away from home. And this is, as you know, our trusty papaomus Benny."

Chase patted the head of a large, blue colored animal that resembled an ox. Everybody in the town knew who Benny was, especially the rancher's, because he stayed in their field when the quest for myrrh was over. But Belle really loved him and was sitting on his back, scratching through the thick, white mane. Re dragged her off and gave her a small smack on the head for being careless.

Belle just recovered with a sigh and cheerfully said, "I hope you guys have some fun. And you, Brother, better be careful. I don't need you dying on me."

Re just rolled his eyes at his little sister. "Come on, sis, I've been doing this for a few years now and haven't died so far. I think I know what I'm doing." Seeing Belle hanging her head, he ruffled up her hair and smiled at her, his way of promising he'd take care of himself.

Kristen and Hazel jumped up into the back of the caravan while Chase took his usual spot in the driver's seat. Kristen had this weird habit of giggling before she talked, which she did right then.

"Hey, can't some girls get a bit of a good-luck send off from their best friend?"

The Selkie girl turned around, slightly blushing and a bit flustered.

"Of course I was going to wish you guys' good luck it's just I said it to Brother first because, he's my brother and all, and I've seen him do some pretty stupid stuff, and I just…"

Hazel waved her hands frantically, "Okay, okay, we get it. If I don't stop you now, it'll take days for you to get that whole sentence out." She looked up at the sky for a few seconds and then looked back down, from the Lilty sitting next to her, to the Clavat at the front, and two Selkies on the road.

"What are we all waiting around for? Let's go get that first drop of hope into our chalice!" She then pumped her fist into the air, which Kristen copied following up with a big "Whoohoo!" and the caravan started to move.

Belle Sa waved energetically from the river side before turning and running back to her house.

* * *

"How far away is this River Belle place anyway?" Kristen asked, now walking along the caravan. She was fun and energetic but patience wasn't a virtue of hers. Chase just sighed and turned his head to look at her.

"It's not like the myrrh trees are going to be growing in our backyards. And besides, it's not that far now, there's a crossroad right up ahead of us." And with that he turned his attention back to the road.

Hazel, still in the back, looked past Chase and remarked how there was something else up ahead too. As they got closer they all saw it was another caravan, mostly Lilties with strong black armor. One of them, possibly the leader, had a young moogle flying around him and he called out to the group. Hazel didn't really know what to do so she just gave a small, meek wave. Chase and Re were a bit more acquainted.

"Good day, Sir Sol Racht!" They greeted.

"And good day to you. Ah, I see you have a new member in your caravan." Sol said as he saw the girl. He shook his head. "But still no Lilties, what a shame."

"Hey, there's me, you know!" Kristen exclaimed, seemingly popping out of nowhere from the other side of the wagon. Sol laughed and said that changed things by a considerable amount. The moogle landed on the ground and finally spoke up.

"But you don't have a lot of people, kupo. You might have trouble with carrying the chalice." He conjectured, his big ears moving in the light breeze.

"I have a great idea! Why not have Mog join you and he can help you?"

At this remark Mog instantly got closer to Sol and cried out, "No, kupo! I wanna stay with you!"

Like his sister, Re Lii got embarrassed by the smallest things and he just tried to stop the little moogle from crying.

"No, no. We're fine. There should be enough people to help carry the chalice and defeat the monsters."

The Lilty gave in and wished them good luck as they went on their way. Re gave a sigh of relief and said how he was glad that was over with. Hazel jumped out of the caravan and started walking beside him.

"Is it just me, or are we sighing a lot more than we used to?"

The Selkie rolled his eyes again. "I don't know. Who cares? Look, we finally made it."

The caravan had finally arrived at the River Belle. Running water could be heard already.

Chase pulled Benny to a stop and got onto the ground, where he unsheathed his sword. Kristen got the crystal chalice from the caravan and started bouncing it on her head since her hands were full holding her lance. She and Hazel marched forward, cheering, "First drop of myrrh! First drop of myrrh! First drop—"

Chase smiled. "You guys are making it a bit too obvious that this is your first time with a caravan."

Hazel was in too good of a mood to get angry. The River Belle was too pretty with its crystal clear water and green grass for anything like that. Instead she just replied, "Well, of course it's obvious. This _is_ our first time going out for myrrh. There's no problem with us having some fun along the way."

Chase just argued back, "Say that again after fighting the monsters."

And monsters there were… loads of them. Around every corner there were at least two of them. Goblins, raccoons, hedgehogs, ("Why are they called hedgehogs anyway? They're nowhere near a hedge," Kristen had complained after getting hit by one again.) and obstacles. The group had just gotten over the fallen bridge and Hazel was looking out at the field, keeping close to the wall.

"God, look at all of them." She groaned. Turning back to everyone she continued, "Re, you better heal us up just in case. He did as he was told and started casting the spell and a few seconds later they were all surrounded by a soft blue glow. The girl took a deep breath and gave the command for them to charge.

Chase and Re Lii had to agree that the fight was easier with four instead of two, but it was still hard. After one strike was made to a monster, all the others heard and came over to join the fray. Add in the fact that the chalice's protection from miasma had a limit and it was just plain frustrating. In fact, Hazel had accidentally gone outside the barrier and Kristen had to grab her and pull her back.

The giant goblin made a swing at the two while they were standing still but they ran out of the way and quickly focused their attacks on it. After a hard hit from Re's racket the giant fell and went _poof_ into purple smoke, leaving a strange staff behind. Re picked it up and then healed everyone again.

"I agree with you, Chase." The girl Clavat panted, "Monsters aren't fun."

Instead of an "I told you so" he just nodded and looked over at the other monsters on the field.

"The giant crab's pretty close by so we shouldn't bother with those small things. So get ready to run like your life depends on it."

But before they started Kristen dropped the chalice onto the ground.

"Hazel, you carry this for awhile, I'm starting to get a headache."

Re picked it up instead, saying how it was a better idea because he was faster. They all ran towards the bridge and crossed over without even getting hit by an enemy. And the monsters couldn't even follow them either. Out of harm's way, they noticed a sign that hadn't been there before.

"Monster to the left, kupo." The Lilty read off. If this has been a cartoon, the four teenagers would have gotten a giant sweat drop above their heads. But cartoons didn't exist back then so they settled for just giving the sign a weird look. All of them had the same thought of '_Did that honestly just say "_kupo"_?'_

Hazel just shook her head a bit and guessed that some moogles must've been living nearby. And with that stupid moment over, she placed the chalice in the hot spot for a second and they marched as proudly as they could into the cave to face the infamous giant crab.

* * *

The first thing they noticed once on the other side of the cave was the waterfall, flowing beautifully with a rainbow near the top. The girls sighed with pleasure at the sight of it and Hazel pointed out the myrrh tree that was just able to be seen from where they were.

"Well, that wasn't so hard. Just had to take out a few weak monsters and we get our first drop of myrrh," Hazel said, placing her hands on her hips. Then she started cheering again. "First drop of myrrh. First drop—" But Re made a gesture telling her to be quiet and then she heard it. This weird rustly, creaky noise coming from the waterfall. Just as she turned to see what it was, something jumped out from behind the fall, spraying them with water and making them fall to the ground as the crab swung at them.

"So _this _isn't going to be too hard?" Kristen cried out, rudely mocking her friend. Hazel didn't say anything, though she had a few things in mind, and set to work at attacking this giant ugly thing. Re hit the crab with a few balls of light from his racket and Chase made quick work of a raccoon that had come into the arena. Kristen started swinging her lance at the crab's face and didn't even get a warning as the front of it slammed down to the ground. But she wasn't hurt for long as Re cast Cure on her and then they went right through with swinging their weapons.

Hazel picked up the chalice and moved it a bit farther away so she could move a bit more.

"Guys! Stop for a second, I have an idea!" She yelled at them. They promptly stopped and looked at her, waiting for something to happen. When they saw that she was just standing there not doing anything, Chase yelled back at her.

"What the hell are you doing? You're just standing there!"

She told them to trust her and then she got the thing she had wanted. The crab's claw had started rubbing up against its shell, creating electricity. She quickly moved out of the way and was happy to see that the giant was too busy to have noticed her moving and she gave the order for them to all use their strongest attacks while it wasn't paying attention. Re hit it with an aura again, Kristen jumped into the air and brought her lance on top of the crab's head and the two Clavats rushed forward and lashed out their swords.

The group was barely fazed when the crab's claw disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke, and they ran forward again, Kristen carrying the chalice as the monster scurried away. After another long time of using just weapons, Chase had an idea. He got out the Thunder stone he'd picked up and started to cast the spell. He executed it and cursed at himself when the lightning just bounced off the shell (yet another good moment for a blue sweat drop). The crab turned on him and moved with amazing speed and hit him up against the cliff wall. The other three hurried over and distracted their enemy while their friend recovered and got to his feet.

Kristen backed away to have room for another focused attack but she was too late as the crab jumped up into the air and came down towards her. She followed her reflexes, which told her to get to the ground, and the monster landed on top of her. Fortunately, she was small enough that the only thing that happened was that a lot of dust was sent up and she instinctively speared the fleshy bottom of her foe. The thing screeched and jumped away to a far corner where it set to work focusing a thunder spell onto them. Re was just able to dodge the sparks and then focused one more attack on that annoying crab.

As the lights hit it, the crab fell to the ground and started to turn to dust. The girls moved behind the boys, not sure what was going on. As their opponent disappeared in a giant veil of dust Hazel moved away from Chase and looked to where there now wasn't anything.

"Is it… dead?" was all she could say. The boys nodded and started to walk with Kristen to the myrrh tree. Hazel ran ahead of them with a smile on her face and stopped and stared at the tree with awe. No wonder people put so much hope into those things, they were the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. All the branches were a glowing bluish-green and two of them came to a point right in front a stump.

Chase walked forward with the chalice and placed it on the stump and stepped back. The tiny crystal glowed and then the rest of the tree glowed with it. The glow slowly went to those two branches that came together and something started to form there. It dropped towards the chalice beneath it and hit the crystal and made a lovely echoing sound. There was the first drop of myrrh.

* * *

As they walked back, Kristen kept at glancing at the new found myrrh. It was kind of disappointing that one tiny drop was all they got after going through that hell. But then again, who was she to complain. Hazel had started cheering again and this time the boys actually joined in.

Once they got back to the caravan Chase patted the papaomus on the head and climbed into the back of the caravan.

"It's good to be back home, isn't it?" He sighed as he fell back onto some blankets that were against the wall. But as soon as he did there came a shrill squeal and something bit the boy's hand. In a split second he was back on the ground outside, with everyone else wondering what just happened.

"There's something in there and it _bit _me!" was all he could give as an answer. The girls jumped in and edged their way to the blankets where they found a black furball glaring at them, puffed up with fury.

"What was that for, kupo!" it squeaked at them. The two relaxed and then called back to the other two that a moogle had found her way into the caravan.

The moogle wasn't done talking though. She flew outside and glared at Chase with big dark blue eyes.

"What were you thinking just barging into my home like that?" the moogle asked, still with an angry tone to her voice.

This left the band almost speechless. I should stress on the almost because they all said in unison, "What do you mean 'your home'? This is our caravan!"

The moogle descended to the ground and sighed, nothing more than a puff of air.

"Let's start over. My name's Aizewa. And you are, kupo?"

"Chase."

"Kristen"

"Re Lii."

"And I'm Hazel, ma'am." It was obvious that this young black moogle was female by the higher than normal voice. Aizewa looked at them and then continued explaining why she was there.

"Well, kupo, my parents told me I was old enough to find a home, but there ain't any good places around that aren't already habitated . I had just about given up hope until I found this darling little wagon. And with blankets in it and everything. So I put my small bit o' stuff away and took a nap. But you, kupo, decided to squish me in the middle of such a nice dream. So I just had to teach you a lesson for coming into my moogle home without knocking." Now finished, Aizewa sat down, thinking that that settled everything.

The small band of heroes huddled together, thinking of what they should do. Down on the lower level Kristen whispered, "We can't just make her leave. She's set out to live in our caravan."

Chase cocked his head from side to side, mulling over his words before he said them.

"Well, I did say this was a home away from home, and I don't think a tiny little moogle will bother us that much."

Hazel and Re weren't too happy, but their comrades brought up perfectly good points so they just said "Fine." and they turned back to the little black creature, currently scratching her ear with her foot.

Hazel made the speech. "Okay, Aizewa, you can make your home in our 'darling wagon' but there's a fee." Chase and Kristen looked at her, but she ignored them. "You have to help us by carrying the chalice. We all have to agree that it's hard to fight monsters while making sure that's okay, right?" The other three gave small nods and murmured agreement.

Aizewa flapped her small bat-like wings and was up in the air at eye level with almost everyone.

"I agree to your terms, kupo." She smiled at them and returned to her little nest of blankets in the caravan.

Kristen sighed. _As long as we don't pick up any more annoying things like her, I think we'll survive this trip._ She thought. As they all continued walking she remembered how people told you never say things can't get any worse; they usually do.

**End journal entry one.**

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**Afterthoughts: **So this is my FF:CC fanfic. Not too bad for my first chapter. My characters are starting to get personalities and I even have a family relationship and a moogle that isn't Mog. Speaking of my little moogle, you're probably wondering where I got the name "Aizewa" from. Simple, I dreamed it up. No, seriously, I did. Of course that dream was for a completely different game series, but the name was too good not to use at some point.

BTW, when Aizewa says "habitated", that's actually supposed to be there, it's not a typo. Anyway, I can't say who my favorite character is yet, because they haven't shown up yet.

Now, you are free to review this chapter. Tell me how my fight scene was, I think it sucked. And yeah, I don't use pronouns a lot.

I just realized I forgot to mention Stiltzkin! Oh well, he's not that important except for giving you fighting tips.

Another thing I just realized. Hazel's coming off as the leader, and considering she's a newbie that's not a very good idea. It's not my fault! She just forced her way into that position! I'm going to have to have her brought down a peg or two in the next chapter, I guess.


End file.
